


come on and bare your teeth

by everender



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-21
Updated: 2019-12-21
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:26:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21882229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everender/pseuds/everender
Summary: "'This is my martyrdom,' Rey says suddenly."Alternate TROS ending. One-shot.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 4
Kudos: 36





	come on and bare your teeth

When Rey awakens, her head is spinning. 

She's aware that there is someone breathing above her, the sound pained. She feels the rattle of bones in their chest. There is a hand on her stomach, and she snaps into reality. It's his hand. Ben's. 

She sits up and she's in his arms. 

Rey thinks back to all of the times over the past year, when she couldn't sleep, when she caught glimpses of him through the bond, when she was sick, when she was lonely, when - against her better judgement, she _missed_ him, and let herself imagine being held by him. 

He's here, and she says his name, feels her lips pull into a smile. When she leans forward and kisses him his arms tighten around her, and Rey forgets everything. 

When they pull away, Ben smiles at her and she feels her stomach bottom out. She lays a hand on his chest. His shirt is damp from sweat and his heart is beating too fast. 

"You're hurt," she says. She is suddenly aware that her entire weight is bearing down on him and quickly moves to kneel beside him.

"That's - all you," he says. Her face heats up. She sees him crack another smile as she helps him lie down on the stone floor.

"You're in no shape to be making jokes," she admonishes, and her voice catches. She presses both hands over his heart and feels it skid beneath her fingers. "You brought me back to life." He is still solid and warm. No give. "You shouldn't be alive."

She remembers how it felt like healing him had been like giving him a piece of her soul. Rey's sight blurs. 

"Hey." He leans onto one elbow, his free hand cupping her cheek. He thumbs away a tear. "I had help," he says. "General - my mother waited for me. She gave me the life force that was left in her, and I gave it to you."

One year ago she had no one to give her a crumb of food if she was starving and they gave their life force to her. _Thank you_ , she sends out into the Force, and feels a nudge in return. 

Rey can't see through her tears as she heals Ben, feeling his bones shift into place, his muscles kneading back together, his skin knitting over. As soon as she drops her hands from his chest she is gathered into his arms again. He kisses her, this time, flipping them over and holding himself above her. He is gentle, parting her mouth with his, and Rey's hands tangle into his hair. He exhales sharply when she wraps one of her legs around his hips and leans into her more greedily, his lips trailing down to her neck. 

Rey sees flashes in his mind of times that are not quite like this. Pressed up against him in the elevator on the _Supremacy_ , on the floor of the burning throne room, in the sterile white of his quarters where they'd destroyed Vader's helmet. Rey's face warms and she buries it in his neck. 

A nervous chuckle rumbles against her chest. "I really can't hide anything from you, can I," and then a moment later, with a tinge of disbelief, "or you from me."

Rey would be lying if she pretended she didn't have similar fantasies. 

Ben sits up, gently pulling her into his lap. She sits with her head tucked under his chin and legs on either side of him, and he holds her tightly against him. Their breathing evens out. 

Rey thinks about their options. 

She thinks Finn would understand. She thinks maybe he had been trying to tell her that he already understood more than he let on. Finn could convince Rose, and Finn and Rose could convince Connix, but how many others? Rey knows that the Resistance, while grateful for her, feels little loyalty to her, and Poe would never completely understand. She doesn't think even Finn could completely understand. Who would convince who, and with the General gone, how long, really, before they killed him? 

"This is my martyrdom," Rey says suddenly. 

Ben pulls back and looks into her eyes. "No. We'll go back. I'll be sent to jail, or exile, and I deserve it. I deserve all of it." He hesitates. "And you deserve to be with the people who make you happy."

"Ben." Her voice is soft, and they both know. They share a life force, a force bond; there is no hiding. If Ben goes back they will only see Kylo Ren, and he will die, and Rey will spend the rest of her life dreaming that he didn't. "I died here." 

All of the names between the two of them die here. 

**Author's Note:**

> Expect more alternate TROS stories from me because my heart is broken.


End file.
